This vegan strawberry mousse cake is a beautiful ‘marriage’ of slightly crunchy hazelnut base and zingy velvety strawberry mousse topped with a thin layer of rich dark chocolate. It’s a delicious show stopper for any party. Free from gluten and refined sugar.
Without blowing my own trumpet, I must say that I’m rather proud of myself for having made this delicious vegan strawberry mousse cake from the very first attempt. For those of you who like creating new recipes (I personally call it ‘playing in the kitchen with fun ingredients’), you know how frustrating it can be when your recipes epically fail. It’s happened to me so many times… However, I truly believe that every ‘fail’ is a learning curve and sometimes kitchen disasters give birth to some great creative ideas.
Talking about new ideas. If you’d read my vegan lasagna post, you know that I started ‘playing’ with a new ingredient in my kitchen, aka agar-agar powder (vegetarian gelatin substitute). I know it’s been out there for years (or centuries perhaps?) but I’ve only recently discovered it for myself.
WHAT IS AGAR-AGAR AND HOW TO USE IT
Agar-agar is a gelling agent extracted from red algae. Because gelatine is made from animal collagen, agar-agar makes a great vegetarian & vegan alternative. It has no scent and doesn’t leave any colouration or residue.
Normally, a small amount of dried agar-agar is added to a liquid, brought to a boil and then simmered for 5 minutes. It sets on cooling.
Agar-agar is widely used in a variety of vegan & vegetarian desserts like jelly, panna cotta, custard and works well as the basis of layers in sponges and other cakes.
Agar-agar is also low in saturated fats & high in minerals, hence you can often find it in health food shops.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS VEGAN STRAWBERRY MOUSSE CAKE
- It has a combination of all the right textures and flavours: slightly crunchy and sweet hazelnut base, zingy & velvety strawberry mousse & a layer of rich & decadent dark chocolate crust.
- As far as the cakes go, it’s really simple to make at home
- It has far less calories than traditional sugar-laden cakes
- Makes a great vegan-friendly celebration cake
When it comes to decorating the cake, feel free to use any fresh fruit of your choice. I used strawberries and cherries, as well as some little hearts that I made from the leftover strawberry mousse.
LOOKING FOR MORE DESSERT INSPIRATION?
Check out readers’ favourite recipes below:
- Nectarine & mango summer tart
- No-churn vegan Biscoff ice cream
- Upside down blood orange cake
- Raspberry & rhubarb crisp
- Quick & easy vegan shortcrust nectarine tart
- Plum & blackberry galette
Without further ado, I’ll ‘pass you over’ to the vegan strawberry mousse cake recipe and I really hope you give it a try. It’s too good to miss out on!
As always, if you recreate this recipe, I’d be delighted to read your comments and hear your feedback. Be sure to drop a comment here on the blog, tag me in your photos on Instagram @Fit Foodie Nutter, Facebook or Pinterest so I don’t miss them.
Have a wonderful day,
Healthfully yours,
Tania x
Pin for later:
VEGAN STRAWBERRY MOUSSE CAKE (GF, NO REFINED SUGAR)
Equipment
- Food processor
- High speed blender
Ingredients
Base layer:
- 9 dates
- 1/3 cup (gluten free) oats
- 1 cup roasted hazelnuts , skins removed
- 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 6 tbsp plant milk
Strawberry mousse layer:
- 2 cups frozen strawberries
- 1 cup plant milk
- 1 cup tinned coconut milk (full fat)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup (use more if you prefer it sweeter)
- 4 tsp agar agar powder
- Optional: 1 tbsp beetroot powder
Chocolate drizzle layer:
- 50 g dairy free dark chocolate broken into small pieces
- ½ tbsp coconut oil
- Fresh strawberries, cherries & freeze dried strawberries for decorating
Instructions
- Soak dates in hot boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, remove the pits and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine soaked dates with oats, hazelnuts, cacao powder, maple syrup and plant milk and blitz until the mixture just starts to come together. Transfer the mixture into 9.5” (19cm) springform cake tin and spread it evenly around the base, making sure it’s packed very tightly. Place the tin the freezer whilst you’re making the mousse layer.
- In the meantime, combine frozen strawberries, plant milk, coconut milk and maple syrup in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. You might want to taste it at this stage and add more maple syrup, if required.
- Transfer the strawberry mixture into a pan. Heat the pan up until the mixture is just starting to bubble. Turn the heat to low simmer, add agar agar powder & beetroot powder (if using) and whisk. Simmer for around 3-5 minutes, whisking continuously, until the mixture is starting to thicken slightly. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down for 5-10 minutes. Don’t worry if the mixture looks a little runny at this stage, it’ll still set.
- Take the cake tin out of the freezer and gently pour the strawberry mixture over the base layer. Transfer the cake tin back into the fridge and allow to set for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the top layer is set (you can check by gently touching it with your finger - it’ll be firm and bounce back when it’s ready), take the cake tin out of the fridge. Very gently remove the sides of the springform pan.
- Combine dark chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl that fits snuggly in a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with 1/3 water and bring to a simmer. Place the bowl with chocolate and coconut oil on top of the pan, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir until melted.
- Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the heat and let it cool down slightly for 3-5 minutes. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the cake and gently spread with a back of a spoon, letting the chocolate drizzle over the sides a little. Place in the fridge for around 5 minutes to let the chocolate layer set.
What a stunning cake! I want to dive right into that berry layer!!
I’ve had my fair share of fails when it comes to working with agar-agar. It sometimes didn’t set as well as gelatine does. I’m still trying to figure out how to work with it and trying to not get frustrated in the process haha 🙂
Hi Natanja! I can totally relate to all the kitchen disasters! I must say, so far I’ve been very lucky with agar-agar but we are yet to see whether it behaves itself haha. PS I’m driving into the berry layer right with you! Thank you so much for your kind comment.
Your photos of this fabulous dessert look amazing. They just pop off the page at me. I definitely would love to try this.
Wow Heidy, I’m so chuffed – thank you so much for your compliment. I’m thrilled if you get to try the recipe. Keep me updated:)
You can blow your trumpet for as long and as loud as you like because – this is STUNNING! What a fantastic creation – and it GF and Vegan! Dang Delicious!
Awww Shashi, your super kind comment has turned me into a red beetroot! Thank you so much for such a lovely compliment:)
I agree to fail is definitely a learning curve ! Love your mousse cake and especially because it contains no refined sugar 🙂
Thank you so much Linda. Absolutely with you on the learning curve. I don’t think there’s one food blogger who hasn’t had an epic disaster in the kitchen yet!:)
What a delicious looking mousse cake! Looks so indulgent and I love that it doesn’t take too long to make either. Would just love a slice right now!
Thank you so much Bintu! I totally agree with you – thanks to the beauty of agar agar, there’s no need to wait for the cake to set overnight! I’m so impatient when it comes to things like these:)
Oh wow! This looks so beautiful and delicious.
OMG, this looks absolutely incredible!
Tania, this cake looks sooo beautiful and tasty! What a gorgeous job you did with this. The ingredients sound fantastic and I can’t wait till I have a special occasion to make this. Wait, do I even need a special occasion?! 😛 Also, I think it is so cool that your mom in law is your best friend. That is very sweet and a beautiful bond indeed.
What a beautiful dessert! I’m excited to try it since I can eat all the ingredients you used.
Oh Amy, thank you so much. I’m so humbled if you give it a go! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
What a beautiful cake! This looks so decadent and perfect for date night 🙂
Can this be made without a springform tin?
Hi Violet. I wouldn’t recommend making it without a springform tin because you might have a real trouble getting it out from the non-springform cake tin without it breaking into pieces.
Where do the oats come in? They are in the ingredients but not in the recipe. Do I include them when blitzing the base ingredients?
Hi Anna. Sorry I couldn’t reply earlier, I couldn’t log into my site due to some problems with changing hosting providers. Yes, the oats are going in with the base ingredients which you blitz together. I’ve updated the recipe card now, thank you for pointing it out. I hope your cake turned out well! Let me know how you got on x
Thank you so much for this wonderful, gorgeous, delicious and easy-to-make recipe. And it’s healthy, too. It’s my new favroite recipe. You are a dessert genius!
You’re very welcome Jamie! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback, you’ve made my day!
The picture was so calling that I ended up changing my plan to making mousse cake. The outcome was a disaster. I used agar agar flakes – quantity as suggested. But it didn’t dissolve completely in the liquid. I kept stirring for long, but still it didn’t. And the outcome after mousse was set was like a stone. I might have gone wrong with the powder to flakes ratio.
Hi Guggu. Agar agar flakes are very different to the powder. I haven’t had much experience with flakes I’m afraid. Sorry to hear your experiment with the flakes didn’t turn out very well.
I made this few weeks ago and it was phenomenal! Making it again this Valentine’s day weekend!
Thank you Kechi! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Happy Valentine’s Day to you:) x
Do you need to grease the tin
You can grease it lightly (I would suggest melted coconut oil) for some extra peace of mind, for sure!
Hi Tania,
The photo is so impressive and I am planning to try this as the vegan dessert for a party.. I live in Australia and we get coconut cream and coconut milk but not full fat coconut milk. Can you tell me if full fat coconut milk is coconut cream or the fat content required and which plant milk did you use – soy milk or almond milk or some other plant milk as some plant milks curdle when heated?
Looking forward to the clarifications.
Bina